Date: Fri, 16 Jun 1995 12:12:05 -0700 From: ffssnra@netcom.com (Peter Nesbitt) Subject: The Kansas City Gun Experiment Apparently-To: firearms-alert@shell.portal.com May 1995 Research Forum The Kansas City Gun Experiment Increased seizures of illegally carried guns led to a decrease in gun crime, according to a study sponsored by the National Institute of Justice and conducted by a team of researchers headed by a University of Maryland professor. The findings come from an evaluation of the Kansas City Gun Experiment, in which supplemental police patrols focused on gun detection. The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department reduced gun crimes in one neighborhood by almost 50 percent in 6 months by deploying extra patrol teams focused exclusively on detecting guns. Study Design For 29 weeks, from July 7, 1992, to January 27, 1993, police patrols were increased in gun crime "hot spots" in patrol beat 144 of the Central Patrol District. Researchers identified the hot spot locations by computer analysis of all gun crimes in the target area, an 80-block neighborhood normally covered by one patrol car, and that had a homicide rate 20 times higher than the national average. The population was almost entirely nonwhite, with more than two-thirds of all residences being owner-occupied, single-family, detached homes. Officers assigned to the target area focused exclusively on gun detection through proactive, directed patrol and did not respond to calls for service. Four officers, who worked 6 hours of overtime each night (7 p.m. to 1 a.m.), 7 days a week, for 176 nights, handled the extra patrol, with 2 officers working an additional 24 nights. A total of 4,512 officer-hours and 2,256 patrol car-hours were logged. Officers on the directed patrols found guns during frisks and searches and following arrests on other charges. Every search had to conform to legal guidelines for adequate articulable suspicion to ensure the protection of civil liberties, and every arrest for carrying concealed weapons had to be approved by a supervisory detective. To gather information for the study, a University of Maryland evaluator accompanied the officers on 300 hours of directed patrol in the target area. Property room data on guns seized, computerized crime reports, calls-for-service data, and arrest records were analyzed for the 29 weeks before the program began and for the 29 weeks the program was in operation. Data for the same time period also were collected for a comparison area (patrol beat 242 in the Metro Patrol District), which experienced approximately the same volume of violent crimes and drive-by shootings as the target area. No changes were made in the number or duties of patrol officers in the comparison area. Increased Enforcement During the program, officers reported spending 3.27 car-hours of the 12 car-hours per night (or 27 percent of their time) actually patrolling the target area. This resulted in a total of 1,218 officer-hours of potential gun detection and visible patrol presence in the area. The officers thus spent about 70 percent of their time processing arrests and performing other patrol-related duties. Despite the limited amount of time the officers actually spent on patrol in the target area, the volume of activity was significant. The officers on directed patrol issued 1,090 traffic citations and made 948 car checks, 532 pedestrian checks, 170 State or Federal arrests, and 446 city arrests, for an average of 1 intervention every 40 minutes per patrol car. Guns Seized In the target area, police seized 65 percent more guns from July through December 1992 than in the first 6 months of the year. Gun seizures increased from 46 during January through June 1992 to 76 in the last 6 months of 1992. In the comparison area, gun seizures decreased slightly in the second half of 1992. Impact on Gun Crimes Comparison of the data from the first and second halves of 1992 shows that gun crimes declined significantly in the latter part of the year. Eighty-three fewer gun crimes were committed, for a 49-percent decline. In the comparison area, the number of gun crimes increased slightly. Conclusion This study shows that a police department can implement a program to increase seizures of illegally carried guns in high gun-crime areas. Police officers can be very productive when given the opportunity to focus on gun detection in identified crime hot spots without being obligated to answer calls for service. In addition, gun seizures do not appear to require large tactical operations. In the Kansas City high-crime target area, the officers worked in two-officer patrol units, and no gun attacks on officers were reported during the directed patrols. Directed patrols also were shown to be, on the average, about three times more cost-effective than normal uniformed police activity citywide in getting guns off the street. Source: National Institute of Justice Update, November 1994, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. Results from the evaluation are reported in an NIJ Research in Brief (NCJ 150855), which can be obtained from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, Box 6000, Rockville, MD 20850, 1-800-851-3420. Sidebar Significant Findings of the Kansas City Gun Experiment ù Traffic stops were the most productive means of finding illegal guns, yielding an average of 1 gun discovered for every 28 stops ù The ratio of guns seized to actual time spent on patrol in the target area was 1 gun seized per 84 officer hours ù Two-thirds of the persons arrested for carrying guns in the target area resided outside the area ù After the directed patrol stopped, crimes involving guns gradually increased for the first 5 months of 1993; when the patrols resumed in June 1993, gun crimes decreased again, although not as consistently as in the second half of 1992 ù Drive-by shootings dropped from 7 to 1 in the target area, doubled from 6 to 12 in the comparison area, and showed no displacement to adjacent beats ù Directed patrols affected only gun crimes; no changes were observed in either the target area or the comparison area regarding the number of calls for service or in the total number of other violent and nonviolent crimes reported ù The decline in gun crimes in the target area did not appear to cause a displacement of crime to adjoining neighborhoods; gun crimes did not increase significantly in any of the surrounding seven patrol beats.